Organic or organo-mineral fertilizers, method of producing thereof and production unit therefor

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for producing an organic or organo-mineral fertilizer includes —a main tank receiving water, —a reactor providing cavitation and magnetic field for activating water or for treating a biological suspension, —a mixing tank containing a preliminary shredder, —an injector receiving and saturating the suspension with air, —a fermenter receiving the obtained mixture and creating a volumetric liquid-air flow passed therethrough and fermented by biological humus. The suspension is filtered and passed into a clearing tank. At predetermined conditions, the apparatus carries out a method encompassing a preliminary treatment of water in a looped circuit by connecting the main tank with the reactor via a pump. The activated water is supplied to the mixing tank added with preliminary shredded humus. The circuit is reconnected to further treat the suspension, finally shred its particles, supply it to the fermenter, additionally mix it with humus, filter it and thereby obtain the fertilizer.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present patent application claims the benefit of a U.S. provisionalpatent application Ser. No. 62/243,201 filed on Oct. 19, 2015, thedisclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The invention primarily relates to agriculture and is intended toproduce liquid and environmentally clean organic and organo-mineralfertilizers based on processing biological humus by hydrodynamiccavitation with the use of a vortex type hydrodynamic reactor. Theinvention may also be applied in pharmacology, cosmetology and chemicalindustry for shredding and mixing various components.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

There are known various methods and equipment for production of organicand inorganic fertilizers, for example produced by Wirlston Machinery orFeeco International. Such companies manufacture and sell a variety ofmachines, e.g. rotary granulators, pipe reactors, rotary dryers, rotarycoolers, pug mills, hummer mills, pin mixers, disc pelletizers, rollcompactors, etc. However, the instant authors have found that it's muchmore convenient and effective to have one apparatus that combinestherein all major steps for producing fertilizers. Such apparatus allowsfor expediting the process and obtaining a higher quality product. Thecore of such apparatus is a multifunctional hydrodynamic reactor capableof providing several operations in combination with other pieces ofequipment, which allows developing an innovative technology forproduction of environmentally clean organic and organo-mineralfertilizers.

OBJECT AND BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, the primary purpose of the invention is to develop amultifunctional hydrodynamic reactor of vortex type (herein called “GMKreactor”) and method of producing liquid organic and organo-mineralfertilizers by employing the GMK reactor in dynamic combinations withother components of inventive equipment.

Application of the GMK reactor enables to combine, in a single device,processes of water activation and shredding biological humus to the sizeof 100 to 700 nanometers, so that a nature of physical and chemicalprocesses is changed in a sole cycle of fertilizer production.

Moreover, the inventive method thus proposed enables to have a widerange of organo-mineral fertilizers by imparting in their compositionany element/substance by its shredding and mixing in the GMK reactor.Since the GMK reactor has a general application, it may particularly beused to uniform, simplify and, therefore, to cheapen, as much aspossible, the production of organic fertilizers.

The manner to produce the inventive liquid organic fertilizer follows:

There are two components only serving as initial raw materials. Theseare water and biological humus.

The water component used is of potable quality with a minimal quantityof chemical impurities. The best-suited water component has thefollowing recommended features: temperature—from 15 to 20° C.; generalmineralization—from 10 to 40 ppm, oxidation and restorationpotential—from +200 to +300 mV, and PH level—from 7 to 8.5 points. Ifnecessary, water is preliminary treated to have the recommendedparameters. The water temperature does not exceed 50 Celsius degree uponpreparing the fertilizer.

The second component of the inventive organic fertilizer is biologicalhumus. The initial biological humus is a product of processing oforganic wastes of various origins, preferably by industrial populationof Californian worms. Such wastes may be of animal, crop, domestic, foodand other origins. Biological humus is an organic compound of highmolecular weight that has a cyclic structure and acyclic chains,preferably generated through Californian worms processing organicsubstances. Such biological humus contains abundant humic substances,major and minor elements, aminoacids, enzyme, plant hormone, naturalantibiotics and living and agronomically useful biological flora.

Chemical additives are not used to produce the organic fertilizer.Additional components may be imparted into the composition oforgano-mineral fertilizer during its production, depending onagricultural applications of such fertilizer.

The process of production of the inventive fertilizer comprises fourphases:

1st phase. Preliminary Activation of Water.

The preliminary activation means changing physical and chemicalproperties of water under the influence of hydrodynamic cavitation andmagnetic field. These factors initiate chemical reactions in water andchange its structure and properties as related to solving organiccompounds and solid bodies in water. The treatment takes from 20 to 25minutes.

2nd phase. Preliminary Preparation of Biological Suspension from InitialHumus.

A biological suspension is made by mechanical mixing of biological humusin the pre-activated water. The biological humus is preliminary shreddedapproximately to the size of 0.5 mm and impurities are separated from itin the process of preparing the biological suspension. Such operationcan be provided by known high shear dispersers, for instance, producedby Mixer Direct, Inc. Therefore, 2nd phase results in obtaining thebiological suspension.

3rd phase. Production of Liquid Organic Fertilizer.

At this phase, the shredding of the biological suspension is finalizedto the size of 100 to 700 nanometers in active water. The so obtainedfertilizer is saturated with necessary major and minor elements by theirextraction from biological humus during its shredding and activatingchemical reactions in the water component together with its structuringat the same time.

The total quantity of dissolved minor elements and organic substancesranges from 1200 to 1400 ppm. The PH indicator increased by 2 to 2.5units, so that the suspense has an alkaline nature and its value as afertilizer is increased. The treatment takes from 30 to 45 minutes. Atemperature of the so prepared suspension does not exceed 50° C. The soproduced suspension is now ready for direct application as organicfertilizer.

4th phase. Microbiological Fermentation of Agronomically UsefulBiological Flora in Initial Biological Humus.

Since the entire biological flora is destroyed upon producing the liquidorgano-mineral fertilizer during the 3rd phase, due to cavitationprocesses in the GMK reactor, at the 4th phase, the fertilizer isenriched with living and agronomically useful biological flora thatincreases its consumer properties.

Thus, the biological suspension is fed into a fermenter where, bypassing through initial biological humus; the biological suspension isactively filled and saturated with useful biological flora from theinitial biological humus in the fermenter.

Fermentation occurs at a temperature from 30 to 40° C. This temperature,coupled with a continuous airing, creates the most favorable conditionsfor germination of bacteria, which is crucial for aggregate efficiencyof the fermentation. Moreover, as solid particles in the suspensionreduces, an aggregate usable area that may be occupied by biologicalflora increases so that the so obtained products become more efficientdue to the augmentation of a number of useful bacteria containedtherein. The fermentation takes from 30 to 45 minutes.

At the same time, as the 1st and the 2nd phases of the production cycleoccur, the inventive apparatus (described below) treats water and thefertilizer with a constant magnetic field with magnetic inductionB=150-200 mT. The magnetic treatment of the suspension additionallyfacilitates the changing of its spatial structure, so that water may beactively hydrated with ions of minor elements comprising the biologicalhumus.

In addition, the magnetic treatment of water reduces its surface tensionso that minor and major elements from the biological humus may betterpenetrate together with water through intercellular membranes of plantsand have a favorable effect on photosynthesis processes in the plants.

After the magnetic treatment, the water component has increasedantifungal (decontaminating) properties, and plants are exposed to alesser degree to various diseases and have more robust and sound growth.This reduces the need to apply various chemicals to fight plantdiseases.

This way of production enables to produce organic fertilizer containingthe following elements (% of the mass):

Nitrogen 0.005-3.0 Phosphorus 0.005-3.0 Potassium  0.03-3.0 Calcium0.005-1.0 Magnesium 0.004-0.5 Iron 0.0003-0.05 Manganese 0.00001-0.001Copper 0.00005-0.005 Water-soluble humates 0.0001-0.6  Others othermajor elements comprising biological humus and dissolved ininsignificant quantities

The useful biological flora of organic fertilizer may contain from 1×10⁶to 1×10¹² bacterial clumps in one ml.

The so produced fertilizer contains abundant humic substances, major andminor elements, aminoacids, enzyme, plant hormone, natural antibioticsand living and agronomically useful biological flora. It is moreaccessible for plants, activates biochemical process in plants,stimulate the increase in their immunity, significantly increases theefficiency of root and foliar nutrition of plants. All of this leads tothe higher yield of agricultural crops and increasing quality ofproducts and vegetation of ornamental plants.

Since the fertilizer has no odor, it is suitable for indoor use assupplementary feeding for ornamental plants.

Since the fertilizer contains a significant amount of potassium humates,the soil forms into water-resistant fine structure that facilitates thepreservation of soil water in a root zone. High contents of usefulbiological flora in humus that generates biologically active substancesmake plants more resistant to diseases and pests, as well as moreresistant to adverse weather conditions.

The fertilizer has a significant effect on soil acidity and features ofchanging its structure towards optimizing the humus contents in the soiland thus facilitating the restoration of soils.

A liquid form of the so produced organic fertilizer may be treated as adisperse system with a liquid dispersing medium and a solid dispersingphase (suspension). Such suspension is highly stable since biologicalhumus is shredded to the size of 100 to 700 nanometers and is as liquidas water is. The fertilizer practically has no sediments and itsguarantee period of storage is up to one year. This indicator, inparticular, causes high consumer features of the liquid fertilizer andis largely determinant for both the efficient treatment and reliableoperation of the equipment used to treat (sprinkle) plants. Since plantsare best treated by sprinkling, which is one of the most efficient andinexpensive ways, the suspension must be stable for successfulagricultural operations.

It would have the widest application to treat seeds, foliar dressing ofplants, soaking tree young plants and root application in soil bysprinkling.

Therefore, the inventive apparatus for producing an organic ororgano-mineral fertilizer comprises: - a main tank capable of receivingat least a water component supplied thereinto; —a hydrodynamic reactorcapable of producing hydrodynamic cavitation and magnetic field therein,provided, at a predetermined pressure, for activating the watercomponent supplied thereinto, or for treating of a biological suspensionsupplied thereinto from said main tank, wherein said treating of thebiological suspension results in a fine shredding of particles of thebiological suspension and in obtaining a treated biological suspension;—a mixing tank at least capable of receiving and mixing biological humussupplied thereinto; —a preliminary shredder mounted in said mixing tank;said preliminary shredder is capable at least of preliminary shreddingthe biological humus contained in the tank, thereby obtaining saidbiological suspension further pumped out from the mixing tank to themain tank; —an injector receiving said treated biological suspension,saturating said treated biological suspension with air, therebyobtaining a liquid mixture of air and the treated biological suspension;—a fermenter containing a pulverizer; said fermenter receives saidliquid mixture from the injector, creates, by means of the pulverizer, avolumetric flow of air and liquid with bubbles that is passed throughthe fermenter, and being fermented by biological humus suppliedthereinto, thereby obtaining a fermented suspension; and —a filtertrapping dispersed large particles of biological humus from saidfermented suspension, and passing through a so obtained filteredsuspension into a clearing tank connected to the filter, wherein a heavyfraction of the filtered suspension sinks onto a bottom of the clearingtank, and the remaining filtered suspension exits the clearing tank asthe fertilizer.

Accordingly, the inventive method for producing an organic ororgano-mineral fertilizer employs said apparatus, wherein said apparatusfurther comprises: a main pump capable of pumping contents of the maintank from said main tank to the hydrodynamic reactor; a drainage pumpmounted in the mixing tank and capable of outputting contents thereof;said method comprising the steps of: —supplying the water component tothe main tank; —creating a looped recirculation circuit by connectingthe main tank with the main pump, subsequently with the hydrodynamicreactor, and subsequently with the main tank; —preliminary activatingthe water component in the hydrodynamic reactor by means of hydrodynamiccavitation and magnetic field during a predetermined activation time(ranging 20 to 25 minutes) and at the predetermined pressure thatdoesn't exceed 0.5 atm, thereby obtaining an activated water component;—supplying the activated water component from the hydrodynamic reactorvia the looped recirculation circuit to the main tank; —disconnectingthe looped recirculation circuit; —supplying the activated watercomponent from the main tank to the mixing tank; —adding a predeterminedquantity of biological humus into the mixing tank; —activating thepreliminary shredder and preliminary shredding particles of thebiological humus in the mixing tank thereby obtaining a biologicalsuspension; —separating impurities from the biological suspension in themixing tank; —suppling the biological suspension from the mixing tank tothe main tank through the drainage pump; —reconnecting the loopedrecirculation circuit; —treating the biological suspension by cavitationand magnetic field in the hydrodynamic reactor in the loopedrecirculation circuit at a predetermined temperature (preferably 50°C.); —finally shredding the biological suspension to a predeterminedfinal size (ranging from 100 to 700 nanometers) in the hydrodynamicreactor; —supplying the biological suspension from the hydrodynamicreactor to the injector; —supplying pressurized air to the injector;—creating by the pulverizer a volumetric air and liquid flow withbubbles (having a diameter ranging from 1.5 to 3 mm); —supplying saidvolumetric air and liquid flow from the injector to the fermenter;—supplying said biological humus into the fermenter, wherein saidbiological humus contains biological flora; —saturating said volumetricair and liquid flow by the biological flora in the fermenter, at apredetermined fermentation temperature (ranging from 25° to 30° C.)thereby obtaining a fermented product; —filtering the fermented productby the filter thereby obtaining the filtered suspension; —supplying thefiltered suspension from the filter to the clearing tank; and —clearingsaid fermented suspension from remaining particles of biological humusin the clearing tank during a predetermined clearing time (ranging from4 to 8 hours), thereby obtaining said fertilizer.

DRAWING OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

The attached FIGURE depicts a block-diagram representing major units ofthe inventive apparatus for implementation of aforesaid technology forproducing organic (organo-mineral) fertilizers.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

While the invention may be susceptible to embodiment in different forms,there is shown in the drawing, and will be described in detail herein, aspecific exemplary embodiment of the present invention, with theunderstanding that the present disclosure is to be considered anexemplification of the principles of the invention, and is not intendedto limit the invention to that as illustrated and described herein.

The inventive apparatus comprises the following components/units shownin the attached FIGURE:

-   1—a preliminary shredder (for which known high shear dispersers can    be employed, see 2nd phase above) of biological humus that shreds    and mixes biological humus (see 2nd phase above) in the tank 2 (see    below);-   2—a tank for mixing and preliminary treatment by the preliminary    shredder 1 of the biological humus received from the main tank 4    (see below); the preliminary shredder 1 is mounted in the tank 2;-   3—a drainage pump for pumping the biological suspension out from the    tank 2;-   4—a main tank receiving the biological suspension from the tank 2    via the drainage pump 3, receiving a preliminary treated water    component from the GMK reactor (see below), mixing the biological    suspension with the treated water component, thereby obtaining a    mixture;-   5—a hydrodynamic reactor of vortex type GMK (herein also called a    GMK reactor) combining processes of activation (by cavitation and    magnetic field, see 1st phase above) of water supplied thereto and    fine shredding of biological humus (see 3rd phase above); the    reactor 5 receives a mixture of the activated water and biological    humus (i.e. a biological suspension) from the main tank 4 via the    main pump 6 (see below); the GMK reactor 5 first activates the water    component (see 1st phase above) with a constant magnetic field with    a magnetic induction B=150-200 mT, and then (see 3rd phase above)    the GMK reactor 5 treats the biological suspension with a constant    magnetic field with a magnetic induction B=150-200 mT; the reactor 5    outputs the activated water component after 1st phase to the main    tank 4, and outputs the treated biological suspension after 3rd    phase to the injector 8 (see below);-   6—a main pump pumping the mixture from the main tank 4 into the GMK    reactor 5;-   7—a fermenter containing a pulverizer (i.e. a sprinkler-dispenser);-   8—an injector;-   9—a filter;-   10—a clearing tank for products; and-   11—a compressor.

Inputs and outputs:

-   Input No. 1 is an input for supply of working water;-   Input No. 2 is an input for supply of biological humus; and-   Input No. 3 is an input for supply of air to create a predetermined    density of air and liquid flow in the fermenter 7.-   Output No. 1 is an output of finished products after clearing; and-   Output No. 2 is an output of a heavy fraction generated in the    process of clearing.

Operation of the Inventive Apparatus.

After starting the inventive apparatus, water with the above-mentionedstandardized parameters is supplied through input No. 1 to fill up themain tank 4. Thereafter, a looped (enclosed) recirculation circuit iscreated by connecting respective taps of the following components: maintank 4—main pump 6—GMK reactor 5—main tank 4. This circuit creates andalways maintains a manometer pressure up to 0.5 atm. After the circuitis connected and the manometer pressure is reached, the main pump 6 ison and the GMK reactor 5 activates water (by cavitation and magneticfield, see 1st phase above) in this circuit within 20 to 25 minutes, andthen the looped circuit is disconnected.

After the activation process, the activated water component is suppliedfrom the tank 4 to the mixing tank 2. Thereafter, a predeterminedquantity of biological humus is added to the tank 2 through input No. 2.After the tank 2 is filled up, the preliminary shredder 1 is switched on(2nd phase) to preliminary shred particles of the biological humusapproximately to the size of 0.5 mm, to mix the contents of the tank 2,and to separate foreign objects, thereby completing 2nd phase. The soprepared biological suspension is supplied to the main tank 4 throughoutputting by the drainage pump 3.

After the main tank 4 is filled up, the looped circuit is reconnected(3rd phase): main tank 4—main pump 6—GMK reactor 5—main tank 4. Thelooped circuit creates again the manometer pressure up to 0.5 atm.,which is maintained during the processing of the biological suspension.The biological suspension is treated by cavitation and magnetic field inthe reactor 5 in the looped circuit at a temperature of 50° C., whilethe shredding of the biological suspension is finalized to the size of100 to 700 nanometers in active water. After the 3rd phase is completed,the so treated biological suspension is supplied to the fermenter 7,containing a pulverizer mounted therein, through the injector 8.

The fermenter 7 is preliminary filled with the treated biologicalsuspension based on activated water at a temperature ranging from 25° to30° C. After filling up the fermenter 7, the treated biologicalsuspension is actively mixed with the air flows supplied from anexternal source (e.g. a compressor 11) to create a uniform substancethroughout the entire volume of the fermenter 7 (4th phase).

While passing through the injector 8, the treated biological suspensionis saturated with air supplied from a compressor 11. A flow of air andliquid so generated enters the fermenter 7 wherein the pulverizercreates a volumetric air and liquid flow with bubbles ranging from 1.5to 3 mm. The so obtained volumetric flow is fermented by biologicalflora during 30 to 35 minutes while the volumetric air and liquid flowpasses though the biological suspension in the fermenter.

After passing through the fermenter 7, the so obtained product passesthrough the filter 9. The filter 9 deters dispersed large particles ofbiological humus that may get into the finished product during theprocess of fermentation.

After passing through the filter 9, the finished product is passed tothe clearing tank 10 of finished products. The products stay in the tank10 during 4 to 8 hours to clear from potentially remaining dispersedlarge particles of biological humus and acquires required finalproperties due to physical and chemical processes caused by changedphysical and chemical properties of the suspension. Thereafter, thefinished product is ready for use.

The proposed method and apparatus enable in a simple way to producehigh-quality and all-purpose liquid organic (organo-mineral) fertilizerbased on biological humus with improved parameters as compared withexisting types of fertilizers.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for producing an organic ororgano-mineral fertilizer comprising: a main tank (4) capable ofreceiving at least a water component supplied thereinto; a hydrodynamicreactor (5) capable of producing hydrodynamic cavitation and magneticfield therein, provided, at a predetermined pressure, for activating thewater component supplied thereinto, or for treating of a biologicalsuspension supplied thereinto from said main tank (4), wherein saidtreating of the biological suspension results in a fine shredding ofparticles of the biological suspension and in obtaining a treatedbiological suspension; a mixing tank (2) at least capable of receivingand mixing biological humus supplied thereinto; a preliminary shredder(1) mounted in said mixing tank (2); said preliminary shredder (1) iscapable at least of preliminary shredding the biological humus containedin the mixing tank (2), thereby obtaining said biological suspensionfurther pumped out from the mixing tank (2) to the main tank (4); aninjector (8) receiving said treated biological suspension, saturatingsaid treated biological suspension with air, thereby obtaining a liquidmixture of air and the treated biological suspension; a fermenter (7)containing a pulverizer; said fermenter (7) receives said liquid mixturefrom the injector (8), creates, by means of the pulverizer, a volumetricflow of air and liquid with bubbles that is passed through the fermenter(7) being fermented by biological humus supplied thereinto, therebyobtaining a fermented suspension; and a filter (9) trapping dispersedlarge particles of biological humus from said fermented suspension, andpassing through a so obtained filtered suspension into a clearing tank(10) connected to the filter (9), wherein a heavy fraction of thefiltered suspension sinks onto a bottom of the clearing tank (10), and aremaining filtered suspension exits the clearing tank (10) as thefertilizer.
 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: saidmagnetic field is characterized with a magnetic induction being from 150to 200 mT; said predetermined pressure is constant and doesn't exceed0.5 atm; the water component is activated by the hydrodynamic reactor(5) within a time interval from 20 to 25 minutes; upon being activated,the water component has the following characteristics: a temperature isfrom 15 to 20° C.; a general mineralization is from 10 to 40 ppm, anoxidation and restoration potential is from +200to +300 mV, and a PHlevel is from 7 to 8.5 points; said preliminary shredding of thebiological humus results in obtaining particles of the biological humushaving a size essentially of 5 mm; and particles of said biologicalsuspension are characterized with a size from 100 to 700 nanometers. 3.The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: a process of fermentationin the fermenter (7) occurs at a temperature from 30 to 40 ° C. andlasts from 30 to 45 minutes.